GOFFSTOWN
Edward Bridge, a Salvation Army bell ringer, stands outside Sully’s Superette every day except Sunday and Thursday, manning a red kettle of hope and cheer.
His personal coffer fills with smiles and statements such as “Thank you for what you do” as people enter and exit the grocery store in downtown Goffstown, giving what they have at the moment, after fumbling through wallets or pockets. Small change, one-dollar bills, sometimes a 20. Or much more.
Bridge, 52, of Goffstown, hears stories from passersby about how the Salvation Army inspired them to do good, or helped them or their families during desperate times, when they were children and needed basics such as food, clothing or heating fuel.
In turn, Bridge spreads joy. “I say, ‘Good morning.’ I say ‘Have a good day.’ I say ‘Merry Christmas’ and ‘Thank you for your donation.’”
“It’s the politeness people forget,” he says, that he hopes to revive, greeting by greeting, along with a sense of gratitude. “I tell people, ‘You put one foot on the floor in the morning? Smile and laugh! It’s a good day.’”
Bridge has been a bell ringer for 12 years — in Goffstown for two and in Derry for 10 years before that. He is a foot soldier in the well-known nonprofit’s campaign to collect donations between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Founded in England in 1865, the Christian charity spread to the United States, Ireland and Australia in 1880. According to The Salvation Army USA Central, the Salvation Army today relies on money raised in kettles nationwide to help more than 25 million people in need each year.
“I love doing this,” Bridge says. “It makes me happy. I love when the little kids put one coin in at a time. It’s cute. You’ve got to smile. Life’s too full of mishaps. You’ve got to smile and think positive.”
Bridge became disabled in 2009 in a car accident and now struggles with nerve damage, in addition to compromised eyesight he has had since birth. It prevents him from driving. He lives with his first wife’s uncle on a 3-acre parcel in town where he does yard work and enjoys planting trees.
Asked about his Christmas wish, his eyes become glossy. He last saw his son, Edward Jacob James Bridge, now age 19, in Florida when the boy was 3 1/2. His ex-wife got custody in their divorce. Then he vanished.
“I look all the time on social media,” Bridge said. “I have no idea where he is.”
‘I will help every time’
Being a bell ringer, Bridge says, reminds him of what matters no matter what life holds — including being thankful for everyday blessings and lending a helping hand when you can.
At the Salvation Army, large and small donations add up. He rings the bell and stands by the kettle, eight hours at a time. “I don’t even ask. All I know is I’m doing good for the Corps.”
Charlie Doherty, a mechanical engineer from Weare, came to Sully’s before noon on Saturday. It felt like seeing a kindred spirit. “I never pass up a kettle,” he says. When he was young, living in Lowell, Mass., with his mother and three other children, Doherty wandered into a Salvation Army church one day and “no one chased me out,” even though it wasn’t his family’s religion.
“Every time I went there, they welcomed me,” he says.
In high school, a friend’s father played in the Salvation Army band and his son, John Ferrera, later became a commander of the Corps in Trenton, New Jersey. Doherty’s daughter volunteered as a bell ringer in high school.
“I will not go by a bell ringer,” he says. “I will help every time. I know where the money goes. They help people in need directly. They will do what they can for that family every time. They get down to the heart of it.”
“They recently helped my uncle with propane,” Bridge says. “Without it, we wouldn’t have heat.”
“We don’t live on this planet alone. You’ve got to help,” Doherty says.
‘Every little bit adds together’
Outside Hobby Lobby off South Willow Street in Manchester, Shane Phillips, 33, rang the bell near his kettle. It’s his first year volunteering as a bell ringer.
He said he has seen what the Salvation Army does in Manchester, especially for kids, especially at its Kids’ Cafe on Cedar Street, and he wants to make sure that work continues.
“Their siblings might be gang bangers. They try to get them away from that life and give them community and fellowship,” Phillips says. “I’ve seen that camaraderie.” They also give needy families $100 gift cards for each child to buy clothes, shoes or winter coats at J.C. Penney, he says. “Simple acts like that can be life-altering.”
One in five people who put money in Phillips’ kettle have a story to share, he says. “‘I remember growing up as a kid. You were the only ones that helped us.’ One lady said when she was young her family lost everything in a fire and the Salvation Army was there to assist. She’s never forgotten that.”
“No matter what you give, your contribution is going to impact lives,” Phillips says.
“Every little bit adds together and makes a huge difference. It’s an every-person campaign,” says Col. Colin DeVault, commander of the Salvation Corps in Manchester. “With inflation and high prices, people are in great trouble.”
This year, the Salvation Army will help 1,059 families in the Greater Manchester area — 130 to 140 more than last year.
The Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign and the Union Leader Santa Fund support the work of Salvation Army throughout the year.
Donations can be made online at unionleader.com/santafund or by check to the Union Leader Santa Fund, c/o New Hampshire Union Leader, P.O. Box 9555, Manchester, NH 03108.
Donations also can be dropped in the Santa Fund box in the lobby of the newspaper at 100 William Loeb Drive, Manchester, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Last Christmas season, the Union Leader Santa Fund raised $153,827, just shy of the previous year’s campaign, which collected $154,390.
